New Delhi, Experienced Sharath Kamal and world no. 24 Manika Batra will lead the Indian men's and women's teams respectively at the Paris Games, where the country will make its Olympic debut in the team events.
The senior selection committee of the Table Tennis Federation of India on Thursday selected the six-member team (three in each section) as per Olympic norms, besides naming the individuals who will compete in the singles events.
Sharath, Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar will form the three-member men's team while Manika, Shreeja Akula and Archana Kamath will be the team members in the women's category.
"Alternate Players" in each section There will be Sathiyan and Ayhik Mukherjee.
Sharath and Harmeet will compete in the men's singles and Manika and Sreeja will compete in the women's event.This decision was taken on the basis of the latest world rankings.
This will be the fifth and final Olympic appearance for 41-year-old Sharath, who made his Games debut in 2004.
Since the teams and individuals were already selected according to clear TTFI criteria, three players were "self-selected" due to their consistent performance over time and world rankings.
However, there was a debate going on regarding the third player for the women's team. Afte Manika and Sreeja Akula advanced based on their high world rankings (top 50), with Archana Kamath (103) making the squad as the third player.The Bengaluru paddler left Ayhika Mukherjee (133) behind in many respects including her ranking.
As far as the men are concerned, Sharath picked himself as the top-ranked Indian at No. 40, while Harmeet (No. 63) and Manav (No. 62) were separated by a place in Western Railways.
Although both made it to the team combination, national champion Harmeet got the selectors' nod on the basis of his international (higher participation led to better win-loss ratio) and national performances.
Incidentally, the presence of Massimo Costantini as a special invitee at the meeting also added to the enthusiasm as the foreign expert's inputs proved useful in the selection of the teams.
Costantini will take charge of the Indian team for the third time early next week.He reached India earlier this week.
Alternate players Sathiyan and Ayhika will accompany the team to Paris but will not remain in the official Games Village. Their services will be required in case of injury.
the teams:
Male: A. Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Manav Thakkar; Alternate Player: G Sathiyan.
Women: Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Archana Kamath; Alternate Player: Ayhik Mukherjee.
The senior selection committee of the Table Tennis Federation of India on Thursday selected the six-member team (three in each section) as per Olympic norms, besides naming the individuals who will compete in the singles events.
Sharath, Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar will form the three-member men's team while Manika, Shreeja Akula and Archana Kamath will be the team members in the women's category.
"Alternate Players" in each section There will be Sathiyan and Ayhik Mukherjee.
Sharath and Harmeet will compete in the men's singles and Manika and Sreeja will compete in the women's event.This decision was taken on the basis of the latest world rankings.
This will be the fifth and final Olympic appearance for 41-year-old Sharath, who made his Games debut in 2004.
Since the teams and individuals were already selected according to clear TTFI criteria, three players were "self-selected" due to their consistent performance over time and world rankings.
However, there was a debate going on regarding the third player for the women's team. Afte Manika and Sreeja Akula advanced based on their high world rankings (top 50), with Archana Kamath (103) making the squad as the third player.The Bengaluru paddler left Ayhika Mukherjee (133) behind in many respects including her ranking.
As far as the men are concerned, Sharath picked himself as the top-ranked Indian at No. 40, while Harmeet (No. 63) and Manav (No. 62) were separated by a place in Western Railways.
Although both made it to the team combination, national champion Harmeet got the selectors' nod on the basis of his international (higher participation led to better win-loss ratio) and national performances.
Incidentally, the presence of Massimo Costantini as a special invitee at the meeting also added to the enthusiasm as the foreign expert's inputs proved useful in the selection of the teams.
Costantini will take charge of the Indian team for the third time early next week.He reached India earlier this week.
Alternate players Sathiyan and Ayhika will accompany the team to Paris but will not remain in the official Games Village. Their services will be required in case of injury.
the teams:
Male: A. Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Manav Thakkar; Alternate Player: G Sathiyan.
Women: Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Archana Kamath; Alternate Player: Ayhik Mukherjee.
